Granada y Almerí­a

Adrian and I just arrived in Almerí­a. Yesterday I took the bus from Órgiva to Granada and spent the rest of the day walking around with Adrian, failing to find internet access and stopping in Parque de Triunfo to play our darboukas until it started raining. We had some excellent tapas and beers and couldn´t find a flamenco show we located earlier in the day. So, we actually got to be early (around 1 am).

Now we have found an internet cafe so we can take care of some business. Adrian has some icky legal stuff to sort out. He actually got caught by some immigration officials while on the train from San Sebastian to Madrid. They were checking passports and when the checked his, saw that he had entered France in August of 2006 and hasn´t left the European Union since … he´s been here a bit longer than his 90-day tourist visa allows. He was sort of arrested and even put in a jail cell for a little while. And, finger printed, a medical doctor checked him out and because he was detained, he missed his train connections and ended up having to arrive in Granada a day later than anticipated. Fortunately, he said he was treated well the whole time he was in custody. And, it was just a minor set-back. But now he has to return to Mexico within the next three months, or he will be expelled from Spain and won´t be able to return for as little as three years, or as many as ten!

All of his adventure with the law made me think twice about my upcoming plans, and I discovered that to avoid such a potential run-in and subsequent inconveniencing, I need to make sure I don´t exceed my 90-day visa either. So, at the end of May, I need to visit a non-EU country for a week or so. Maybe Morocco or Egypt, or perhaps Switzerland or other country. I had been planning to be in EU countries until September, and anywhere along the way I could have the same excruciating experience that Adrian did – no thanks!

Leaving Cortijo el Cura was tough. I even ended up spending a day more than I planned, due to Adrian´s mishap. It was such a great month, and it just flew by way to fast. I will miss the place, and miss Mike, Janine and the dogs. I can´t wait to get to Paola´s farm in Cabo de Gata, though. Based on the description, it should be different experience altogether.

I don´t know what internet access will be like there. If I don´t post for three weeks, things should still be ok and I may pop up with a post from Germany when I visit my Mom and Gary. I hope to get many excellent pictures in Cabo de Gata and have some great farm fun!